Flattie Help Please!

[Thomassssss]

G'day all,

First post in a while, having moved to Tassie, but I hope you don't mind me asking for some advice here as this is still the best fishing forum going around.

I have been fishing for flathead at a local bay beach from my canoe during the warmer months and always catch undersize fish. Sometimes 10 or 15 of them, with the exception of a few that are just over legal size here and there. I will detail what gear I'm using, techniques etc. and ask the question, is it possible there no big flatties where I am fishing or do I lack proper technique or knowledge?

Location: Conningham Beach, Tasmania. https://goo.gl/maps/NLa4bCdE8MR5h4j1htt ... E8MR5h4j17

Time: Set out about half an hour before the top of the tide and fish for anywhere between an hour or three hours depending on how much I can spare.

Gear: 1/2 oz jig heads - #1/0 hooks. Berkley 4" Jigging grubs (nuclear chicken, white, fluro yellow) 8 pound braid w/ rod length of 6 pound leader.

Technique: I cast out and let the plastic hit the bottom and retrieve slowly, whip it twice, let it sink, repeat. I cover a lot of water and don't fish the same spot for very long, letting the canoe drift naturally, every now and then going for a paddle to find a new spot to drift in.

On a good day I'll get onto quite a lot of fish, and it is great fun and a beautiful location to be drifting around, however as I mentioned they are almost all undersize. I would have thought by now I would have at least just by shear luck got onto one big lizard. If anyone can offer me some advice I would really appreciate it. The reason, by the way that I continue to fish this spot is that the canoe lives at this beach, and working full time with two small kids this maximises my time on the water. If there is any other info that would be helpful just let me know!

Thanks in advance everyone.

[Boonanza]

Sounds like they are sand flathead which don't grow as anywhere as big as Duskys. Sometimes there are only small fish in area because if you are catching small ones then your doing everything right and catching fish so maybe there aren't any bigger fish around there. You could try bigger plastics but the smaller fish will still have a go anyway. I would say have a chat to some locals and see what they say.

[Irishfisherman]

Hi Thomas, I fish for flathead regularly in Port Phillip Bay using many techniques and have found that often bigger flathead seem to be in the shallower areas around 25ft and under, and pretty much all of the large flathead I catch are bluespot flathead. I don’t know if you can identify the type of flathead you are catching but if the bluespot flathead are not present in your area then that might be the reason. As for your techniques, there is no reason that what you are doing should not be producing larger flathead as they generally aren’t picky.
Hope you get onto some larger fish soon.

[Sebb]

Depends how deep the water you're fishing, try to fish lighter jig head and slow down the retrieve, wait a bit longer on the bottom too. Gulp nemesis pumpkin seeds is good, got a few on it.
Usually one big female flathead is surrounded by many smaller male flathead. Possible that you're catching those male ones.

[Thomassssss]

Sounds like they are sand flathead which don't grow as anywhere as big as Duskys. Sometimes there are only small fish in area because if you are catching small ones then your doing everything right and catching fish so maybe there aren't any bigger fish around there. You could try bigger plastics but the smaller fish will still have a go anyway. I would say have a chat to some locals and see what they say.

Cheers for the reply Boony, and yes, I should have mentioned this in my first post but they are all sand flatties without exception. As you mentioned, I've tried bigger plastics but these little buggers will go after anything! There is a fella at a local fishing shop who is always generous with his knowledge, I'll go and have a chat with him. I reckon I'm just gonna have to give up the convenience of having the canoe at the beach and find another location. Thanks mate.

[Thomassssss]

Depends how deep the water you're fishing, try to fish lighter jig head and slow down the retrieve, wait a bit longer on the bottom too. Gulp nemesis pumpkin seeds is good, got a few on it.
Usually one big female flathead is surrounded by many smaller male flathead. Possible that you're catching those male ones.

I appreciate the response mate, I'll give those pumpkin seed plastics a go.

[Thomassssss]

Hi Thomas, I fish for flathead regularly in Port Phillip Bay using many techniques and have found that often bigger flathead seem to be in the shallower areas around 25ft and under, and pretty much all of the large flathead I catch are bluespot flathead. I don’t know if you can identify the type of flathead you are catching but if the bluespot flathead are not present in your area then that might be the reason. As for your techniques, there is no reason that what you are doing should not be producing larger flathead as they generally aren’t picky.
Hope you get onto some larger fish soon.

Thanks heaps for your response, and as I mentioned to Boony, I should have stated in my first post that I'm fairly certain that all the fish I'm catching are sand flathead. In fact, I'm not sure there are blue spots here. I think there are sandies, duskies and tigers. I'll have a chat with some locals and maybe think about changing locations. I still enjoy being out there in the canoe catching fish, there is often nobody else around and it is beautiful, but it would be good to take some dinner home for the family more often.

[ronan]

1/2 ounce jighead is massive, try 1/4 - 1/8 for flatties. If you’re looking for bigger ones you could try bigger plastics.

[Thomassssss]

1/2 ounce jighead is massive, try 1/4 - 1/8 for flatties. If you’re looking for bigger ones you could try bigger plastics.

Thanks mate, I’ll try downsizing and see how I go.

[purple5ive]

Jighead weight wont make any difference in the size of fish caught.
Bigger plastics will defenitely weed out the smaller fish as they wont be able to swallow the plastic, but the smaller ones will still have a go at it anyway.
It looks like its infested with the smaller sized fish, could be a nursery .
Move location is what I would do.